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martes, 20 de noviembre de 2012

Tips & advices for a nice EVS experience

Opened eyes

Months, far away from yourcountry ..in your luggage maybe there are
some pictures of your lovely family, your dog, your friends… at the beginnig looking
at theme you will feel a little bit melancholic, nostalgic but we want to suggest
you: take it easy! Update your profile on FB, change your position on the map, keep
your eyes open and discover the beauties of this land, the colors of the people,
the unity in the diversity for living an experience that will enrich your own
person, entirely.

Carpe
diEm!

Enjoy
every moment, share it with other nice people just like you, open your mind,
meet the World, explore new people, discover yourself under new lights and
shades, trying to leave your darkness in the back while walking towards the
sunshine.

Take it
easy if plans do not go as you have been wishing, because you always have a B
plan, and a C plan and a D plan, isn’t it? ;)And when you are just ready for doing it… here it comes the X plan, that
one you were not even imagining!

So… what
are you waiting for?

Meet
people, meet the world

Let
yourself flow with this great experience and especially with the people that
you find in it, you will learn a lot of things from them. Take the
opportunity to improve and learn languages, travel and learn everything you
can. Get over
fears and have more confidence in you.

Flexibility

To really enjoy this new experience, in a good way, between a lot of other
forms, is to be open to changes, expected and unexpected, to be flexible with
people around you and be curious with the opportunities that are presented to
you to learn new things. All that you can learn is useful for yourself and to
share new knowledges with others.

Giving up

Yes, you will reach a point that everything seems
like a nightmare for you! The beginning enthusiasm will fade away and now you will want
to go home earlier, abandon the project. So, in order to help you,
because volunteering is all about helping, here are 5 motives to use when
writing your giving up declaration:

1.You are sick. How couldn’t this work? Assuming
that you have a bad health condition is half the way to put you in a plane and
go back home. Only the fresh air of your country and that product that only exists there will cure you. Pack your things, sayonara foreign country!

2.You broke one fingernail. What worse can happen to
compromise your work than having a broken fingernail, especially if you are a
girl? And if you claim that it was during an activity of the project, even
better!

3.Your religion does not allow. The Congregation of the Divine
Socks, the one that you belong, is very strict about having you very distant.
Amendment #17 says that one that misses the Washing of the Socks ceremony for
more than 6 weeks on a row is condemned to have smelly feet for eternity. You sure don’t want this to happen.

4. You miss mummy and daddy. Start to cry and suck your thumb.
Easier than words!

5.You realized that people speak
strange. You
arrived and suddenly it looked like you were in a different reality. People,
for no apparently reason, speak other language! It is impossible to live in a
place where you can’t understand anyone. Besides, the voices you hear at night
are warning that the ninjas are coming for you; you’re not safe in this country
anymore.

There you go. Your work made easier. Now you
don’t have excuses to not give up. Thoughts of giving up are also part of the
experience. You will pass by your dark moments, but you will have your moments
of joy too. Imagine your EVS project as a life simulator. In order to recognize
joy, for example, you must pass by its opposite. Happiness/sadness, responsibility/irresponsibility,
respect/disrespect, hot/cold, you will always find this dualism whatever you do
and wherever you are. It is up to you which one do you want to give importance,
which path do you want to take. Give up/not give up.